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144 Bath Road (formerly 2 Thirlestaine Place)
In 1844 this property was advertised for sale and was at that time occupied by Mr. William Phipps. By 1851 this was the home of a gardener, Mary A.Witts (or Mills). In 1881 master bricklayer Azariah Herbert lived here. Born in Bisley in 1822, he was the son of Solomon and Esther Herbert. He had married his wife Elizabeth in 1844 and they lived here with their two sons, both apprentice bricklayers, and with their married daughter and her children. Azariah died at the age of 59 and his Elizabeth died four years later. In 1890 the property was advertised for let as suitable for a "Boot and Shoe Maker and Repairer", the previous tenant having been the late Mr C. Hemming, who had carried out that trade here. Clearly no bootmakers applied for the lease, as by 1891 this was the shop of a confectioner named Charles Lovesy. He was born in Cheltenham in about 1837 and married (we think) twice. His second wife, whom he married in 1883, was spinster Rose Maria Brown, a mantle maker born in Cheltenham and about 10 years younger than him. By 1911 Charles and Rose had moved to Cardiff. The next known occupier of 2, Thirlestaine Place was Mrs Elizabeth Vincent who was here at the start of the 20th century. She had been born Elizabeth White in Cheltenham in about 1837 and married Thomas Vincent in 1869. Sadly, Thomas died at the age of 32 in 1877, so Elizabeth had to support herself and a young daughter. For a while she became a lodging house keeper in nearby Andover House before taking over this shop as a tobacconist and confectioner. She traded here until about 1910 and died, aged 83, in 1920. The confectioners shop was then acquired by Mr James Arthur Stibbs, who was formerly a hairdresser. Born in Nailsworth about 1884, he married Annie Elizabeth Organ, from nearby Upper Norwood Street, in Cheltenham in 1910. For a while these premises were used by the leather merchant Joshua Robinson for as his Bath Road branch, the main shop being in the High Street, where he lived with his wife Betsy and their three children. Joshua Robinson began his career as a traveller in leather goods, having been born in Yorkshire in about 1854. They sold leather of every description, including saddles, shoes, leggings and gloves. Joshua died in 1905, after which at least one of his two sons, Oscar Proud Robinson, also became a leather merchant. After the Robinsons had left the shop it reverted to being a confectioners and tobacconists. Mr William Fisher and his wife Ellen, whom he married in 1912, lived over the shop and traded were here for about 35 years. During the 1950s the shop was taken over by Mr Walter S. Eaton. In 1961 the shop was the home and business of Mr Cyril Gravenell and he and his family lived here until 1974. Like those before them, Mr and Mrs Gravenell looked after the ice-cream lovers and a wide variety was on offer. After more than 75 years of the confectionery trade this shop changed completely when it became the practice of optician Anthony E. Child. As the Independent Eyecare Centre it remains an opticians until the present day. Researcher: Marilyn West
Updated: Stuart Manton (June 2020) |
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